Orkla and Hydro agreed in October 2012 to combine their respective profiles, building systems and tubing operations in a joint venture, owned 50/50 by the two companies.

With the last outstanding approval from Chinese competitions authorities on August 19, the transaction was completed on September 1.

Sapa AS, with 23,000 employees, is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, combining local expertise with a global network and R&D capabilities, serving customers from more than 100 production units in 40 countries.

The new joint venture has leading positions in Europe and North America, and strong footholds in emerging markets such as Brazil, China, India and Vietnam.